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UNSC Shaw-Fujikawa Space Network
Although often called the "Slipspace Highway" by civilian pilots, the similarity of the SF-Space Network to a physical road system is only analogous. Shaw-Fujikawa Space is dangerously unpredictable even to the most tenured astrophysicists, and the physical laws that govern its existence are difficult to comprehend even in eleven-dimensional mathematics. Even the difficulty of entering and exiting the dimension makes travel potentially catastrophic, and requiring much pre-planning. For this reason, the UNSC Departments of Astrophysics and Astronavigation established the Shaw-Fujikawa Space Network in 2340 as a means both of making interstellar travel more affordable and safer, and of bringing it under closer scrutiny to prevent its abuse. Since then, the expansion of humanity has grown to encompass eight hundred colonies in hundreds of star systems, requiring an elaborate network of routes in the UNSC database, and the equipment to monitor and maintain these routes. History Mechanics There are three critical factors that make unmonitored slipspace travel an extremely dangerous prospect. Firstly, UNSC quantum generators are delicate instruments, affected by even the slightest gravitational influences, and entry and exit points must be located in unique "pockets" where planetary gravitational pull is extremely weak. Finding a point where it is nonexistent is impossible except in the vast distances between star systems, but travelling to one under a ship's own steam would be impractical, both in terms of time and of energy. Such Safe Slipspace Entry/Exit Points are few and far between, and in heavily occupied star systems the amount of traffic must be closely regulated. The second important factor is the unpredictable quantum fluctuations that occur within slipspace itself. Even with the most advanced UNSC navigation sensors and software, predicting a flightpath is difficult even across short "distances", and these sensors are expensive to build and difficult to maintain, and usually require equally expensive computational hardware to process the calculations are the required speed. Such gear is usually far beyond the financial capacities of most civilian transport companies and private pilots, with the exception of salvage crews, usually provided by the UNSC. The third, and most important factor, is the odd influence that gravity has on Shaw-Fujikawa Space. Even capital ships generate a small gravitational field strong enough to stabilise the limited "space" around them, albeit for a short duration. Along routes well travelled, the combined influence these ships have on Slipspace produces a far more stable and therefore navigable route, both dramatically improving the safety of transitions into and out of, as well as the time spent within it, and cutting down the amount of time navigating the dimension requires. Heavily populated star systems with a high amount of interstellar traffic, such as the Inner Colonies, produce the most stable slipspace routes as starships travel back and forth between. Conversely, sparsely populated or recently established colonies possessing slipspace routes with little traffic are less stable and require more time and energy to traverse. As an example, the Epsilon Eridani and Epsilon Indi are comparatively close to Earth - ε Eri is approximately 10.5 lightyears from Sol, while ε Indi is approximately 12 lightyears from Sol. Although still vast astronomical distances, in general UNSC slipspace drives should not take too much longer to reach Harvest than Reach. However, the sheer amount of traffic that stabilised the ε Eridani routes means that transit time to the system is a matter of days, while the same ships would take weeks to reach Harvest. SSEPs are closely monitored by Remote Sensor Outposts capable of launching and maintaining sensor probes within slipspace, which report general conditions, monitor slipspace traffic, and filter gravitational distortions within the dimension. This data is used by the UNSC Astrophysics Department for a variety of purposes, ranging from limited "forecasting" of slipspace conditions, to theoretical application of the data to test the latest mathematical models for accuracy. Since the establishment of the system, UNSC space travel has steadily become safer, faster and cheaper, even despite the remaining limitations. The SFSN is strictly regulated by the UNSC Navy, and is maintained by the UNSC Astronavigation Department. Since the end of the Human-Covenant War, however, the SFSN has been thrown into chaos by the confused state of human affairs. Further complications have arisen with advancements in the field of slipspace navigation, both in the precision of quantum generators and the accuracy of the sensors that map the quantum state of the dimension. For the short term, the SFSN still remains a lifeline between Earth and its remaining colonies, although in the long term it may become outdated as modern slipspace technology becomes more widely available. Remarks *"You know, you could just say "it's a road in space." Or a highway. Nobody really likes the scientific explanation." *"So, that's why it takes a couple of days at most to get to an Inner Colony, even some of the further ones, while it can take months to get to even the closest Outer Colonies? Wow, the explanation is a lot simpler than I thought it would be!" *"I've heard a lot of good things coming out of the Navy about slipspace drives - faster, more accurate, less expensive and more reliable than ever. So, like the telegram before it, the Space Highway may be doomed to oblivion." *"Jeez, I wish we could just use teleporters. The guys in the holovids and sims never have this much trouble!"